When I told Alpana Singh about using the bourbon/marc combo in a Manhattan, she immediately said, "You could call it the Marky Marc Manhattan." She didn't have to specify what bourbon she was thinking of using: had to be Maker's.

Native Foods Café in River Forest has menu items like Native Chicken Wings that contain no bird meat and Scorpion Burger that contains no cow…or scorpion.I have a philosophical/aesthetic objection to vegetables and grains masquerading as meat. I like to eat vegetables and grains, but I appreciate them for what they are; they need not aspire to be that which they are not. Still, I understand that using meat-like names helps clarify taste and texture to those not familiar with seitan and tempeh.

Felony Franks, the new hot dog place that opened up on North Avenue, hires only ex-offenders, people who are trying for another chance, a second act. They serve menu items like the Misdemeanor Wiener, Parolish (a char-broiled Polish sausage) and Big House Beef.

Oak Park has several good Indian restaurants – we especially like Khyber Pass – but we hardly ever cook Indian food at home. The reason for this is that a good Indian meal contains a huge range of spices, and it's our experience that if we buy all the spices, and then don't cook Indian for a year or two, many of the spices – most of them lost in the dark recesses of the spice cabinet -- lose their punch.

I was touched when a friend, Matt Zatkoff, told me that he and some others were putting in many hours of their otherwise free time to help out the folks at Rainbow Thai Cuisine, a small restaurant on Chicago's north side (4825 N. Western) owned by husband-wife team Pramote Rukprueksachart and Wanpen Phosawang.

It you think you know rum, and if you think rum is basically something you add to other stuff, Brugal 1888 from the Dominican Republic is the kind of rum that will convince you that there's rum…and then there's rum.